Tuesday night Russian feminist protest and performance art group Pussy Riot brought their Riot Days tour to Delmar Hall.

For anyone unfamiliar with Pussy Riot they gained global notoriety when five members of the group staged a performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on February 21, 2012 most commonly referred to as ‘Punk Prayer’. The women said their protest was directed at the Orthodox Church leaders’ support for Putin during his election campaign. On March 3, 2012, two of the group’s members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria “Masha” Alyokhina , were arrested and charged with hooliganism. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was arrested on March 16. Denied bail, the three were held in custody until their trial began in late July. On August 17, 2012, Alyokhina, Samutsevich and Tolokonnikova were all convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. On October 10, following an appeal, Samutsevich was freed on probation and her sentence suspended. The sentences of the other two women were upheld.

Before Pussy Riot took the stage Alexander Cheparukhin came on stage to introduce them. He said He talked about how Pussy Riot is not a punk band but more of an activist collective. After the arrest he reached out to some people he had worked with in the past like Patti Smith and Peter Gabriel to get the word out about the unjust arrest. Even Paul McCartney hand wrote letters to the members while they were imprisoned. He said he was in St. Louis on the phone with Alyokhina as she was attempting to flee Russia after hearing she would be sent to a penal colony instead of remaining on house arrest. Masha travelled through Belarus and Lithuania to reach Iceland. She was given citizenship in Iceland earlier this year. He said St. Louis is a special place to him because of this and wanted to make sure that the Riot Days tour came here regardless that he was told that St. Louis has no market for it.

The first to take the stage was Alina Petrova who was on electric violin followed by Diana Burkot on drums and keys. Maria “Masha” Alyokhina and Olga Borisovain finally took the stage in Pussy Riot’s trademark balaclavas. Borisovain was a former policewoman from St.Petersburg who joind Pussy Riot in 2016. Riot Days, is based on Alyokhina’s memoir, it takes the audience from the beginnings of Pussy Riot.The 40 second ‘Punk Prayer’ performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The struggle of being in jail for two years under inhumane conditions like surviving on bread as they do not accommodate vegetarians, hunger strikes, and freezing. Around two-thirds of the way into the set Alyokhina takes a bottle of water and starts pouring it over her head as Borisovain takes several bottles and dowsing water all over the crowd. Shortly after this freedom to political prisoners flashis on the screen and says that currently more than 600 political prisoners in Russia and then proceeded to show names and pictures of over 30 of them along with some resistance fighters of Putin’s regime before ending the show with a thank you. They did not stay gone long though. Visions of Putin’s war on Ukraine filled the screen as the members came back on stage, Alyokhina wearing a I stand with Ukraine shirt. The night ended with Alyokhina reminding the crowd that we have an election next year and that your voices need to be heard as you are the ones making history.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of merchandise is going to the children’s hospital “Ohmatdyt” in Kyiv.

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